The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-308494 filed on Oct. 6, 2000 the entire contents thereof is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of using beach cleaners for recovering various waste scattered on a sandy beach such as a bathing beach.
2. Description of Background Art
Scattered waste such as fragments of fishing nets, vinyl strings, paper scraps, wood chips and blocks, empty cans, bottles, PET bottles and caps thereof, and cigarette butts are found on a sandy beach such as a bathing beach. If this waste remains on the beach, not only will the sand become more and more dirty, but also sea bathers may be accidentally injured. Thus, just before the sea bathing season there is a need for cleaning the beach for recovering waste from the sandy beach by means of a beach cleaner.
Heretofore, there has been known a method for recovering waste from a sandy beach by using a beach cleaner wherein the beach cleaner is allowed to make only a single round in a cleaning area of the sandy beach to complete the cleaning operation. The beach cleaner includes a self-traveling cleaner body and includes a cleaning means necessary for cleaning, including a scooping machine provided in a front portion of the cleaner body to scoop up waste present on and in sand together with sand, as well as means for separating waste and sand from each other during conveyance of the waste and sand rearwardly by a belt conveyor, and allowing the sand to drop onto the sandy beach. The device includes a way of recovering the waste into a basket or the like provided in a rear portion of the cleaner body. See, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 3-138203.
However, according to the above conventional method for recovering waste from a sandy beach, since various large and small waste is present on and in sand of a sandy beach that are recovered together by a single self-traveling type beach cleaner, the load imposed on the recovery device is large, thus requiring the beach cleaner to travel at a low speed. This increases the cleaning time. This is not efficient. Besides, since the entire structure of the beach cleaner is complicated and of a large-size, the beach cleaner is heavy and the maintenance and servicing work is complicated and requires a long time. Further, the fabrication cost is high, and since the beach cleaner is low in working efficiency, the use of an expensive dedicated machine results in an increase in the maintenance cost.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-mentioned circumstances and it is an object of the invention to provide a method for recovering waste on a sandy beach which method permits various waste scattered on a sandy beach to be recovered efficiently so as to clean the sandy beach with use of a beach cleaner of a simple structure.
For solving the above-mentioned problems the present invention provides a method for recovering waste on a sandy beach that includes a first waste recovery step for causing a first beach cleaner to travel in a cleaning area of a sandy beach while towing the beach cleaner by a self-traveling vehicle. The first beach cleaner includes a frame and a plurality of pins projecting downwardly from a lower surface of the frame. The frame is formed in a hurdle shape in plane view and a sled shape in side view, allowing waste present in the cleaning area to be caught on the pins, conveying the waste to a waste recovery area, and recovering the waste. A second waste recovery step is provided for causing a second beach cleaner to travel in the cleaning area having gone through the first waste recovery step while towing it by the self-traveling vehicle. The second beach cleaner includes a hurdle-like waste recovering section in a front portion of a frame and a waste collecting section in a rear portion of the frame. The waste conveying section is inclined so that a front end thereof comes into contact with sand and a rear portion thereof is higher, allowing waste to be scooped up by the waste conveying section and captured in the waste collecting section, causing the second beach cleaner to move to the waste recovery place, and recovering the captured waste. A third waste recovery step is provided for causing the first beach cleaner or a third beach cleaner to travel in the cleaning area having gone through the second waste recovery step while towing the beach cleaner by the self-traveling vehicle at a higher speed than in the first waste recovery step. The third cleaner is fabricated by attaching a scraper to the lower surface of the frame of the first beach cleaner, allowing waste to be scraped up by the pins and/or the scraper and caught in a waste catch net stretched on the frame of the beach cleaner, conveying the waste thus caught in the waste catch net to the waste recovery place, and recovering the waste.
According to this construction, in the first waste recovery step, the first beach cleaner is allowed to travel while being towed by a self-traveling vehicle. The sand is scraped and softened by the pins which are inserted deep into sand of the sandy beach, and at the same time elongated waste such as strings and driftwoods, as well as such waste such as stones, are caught on the pins and conveyed to the waste recovery place. Thereafter, then the first beach cleaner is lifted in a waste recovery station, allowing the waste to drop onto sand from the pins wherein waste is then recovered.
In the second waste recovery step, the second beach cleaner is allowed to travel while being towed by the self-traveling vehicle, whereby waste such as cans, bottles, PET bottles, caps thereof, and wood chips and blocks, which have not been recovered in the first waste recovery step, are scooped up together with sand in the waste conveying section of the second beach cleaner and are captured in the waste collecting section while being separated from sand. Thereafter, in the waste recovery area the captured waste is recovered from the waste collecting section.
Further, in the third waste recovery step, the first beach cleaner or the third beach cleaner fabricated by attaching a scraper to the lower surface of the frame of the first beach cleaner is allowed to travel at a higher speed than in the first waste recovery step. With this higher speed of travel, sand is scooped up and lifted by the pins of the first beach cleaner or by both pins and scraper of the third beach cleaner, whereby cigarette butts and other small waste mixed in the sand are popped up and drop onto a catch net stretched on the frame. The waste thus collected is recovered from the catch net in the waste recovery place.
According to this waste recovering method for a sandy beach, since the functions of two types of beach cleaners are used properly and waste is recovered stepwise through three waste recovery steps, waste is recovered successively and appropriately according to the types and sizes of waste scattered on and in the sandy beach. In addition, the waste recovering work can be done quickly and therefore the efficiency thereof is improved.
According to the present invention, there is provided in combination a method for recovering waste from a sandy beach wherein, in the third waste recovery step, the length of the downwardly projecting pins from the frame of the first beach cleaner, as well the number of the pins, are adjusted to be shorter and smaller than the pins in the first waste recovery step.
According to this construction, since the depth of the pins inserted into the sand of the sandy beach is shallow, the running resistance of the first beach cleaner induced by sand becomes smaller, so that the first beach cleaner can be allowed to travel at a high speed.
According to the present invention there is provided a waste recovering method wherein in at least one of the first, second and third waste recovery steps the beach cleaner that is used is allowed to reciprocate in one of a longitudinal or transverse direction in the cleaning area and, after the end of waste recovery, is allowed to reciprocate in the other direction to recover waste.
According to this construction, traveling grooves formed on sand by the travel of the beach cleaner in one direction are filled up and leveled with the travel of the beach cleaner in the other direction. Further, the recovery of waste can be completed in a more satisfactory manner.
According to the present invention, there is provided a waste recovering method wherein in the first waste recovery step the first beach cleaner which has moved to the waste recovery place is lifted by a waste recovery station installed in the waste recovery place so that the pins of the first beach cleaner are spaced a predetermined height from the sand.
According to this construction, since the first beach cleaner which has been moved to the waste recovery place is lifted by the waste recovery station and string-like waste caught on the pins easily drops onto the sand, it is not necessary to lift the first beach cleaner by a manual operation in the waste recovery place and thus the recovery of waste can be completed in a simple and quick manner without requiring manual labor.
A method for recovering waste from a sandy beach according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The method for recovering waste on a sandy beach embodying the present invention comprises a first waste recovery step of allowing a first beach cleaner A to travel in a cleaning area S of the sandy beach while towing the beach cleaner by a self-traveling vehicle R, allowing waste present in the cleaning area S to be caught on pins (rakes) 4, conveying the waste to a waste recovery area E and recovering the waste. A second waste recovery step of allowing a second beach cleaner B to travel in the cleaning area S cleaned by the first waste recovery step while towing the beach cleaner by the self-traveling vehicle R, scooping up waste in a waste conveying section 15, collecting the waste in a waste collecting section 16, moving the second beach cleaner to a waste recovery area E, and recovering the waste. A third waste recovery step of allowing the first beach cleaner A, or a third beach cleaner A1 fabricated by attaching a scraper to the frame of the first beach cleaner, to travel in the cleaning area S having been cleaned by the second waste recovery step while towing the beach cleaner by the self-traveling vehicle R at a higher speed than in the first waste recovery step, conveying waste scraped by the pins and/or the scraper and caught on a waste catch net 8 up to the waste recovery area E, and recovering the waste.
In the first waste recovery step, the first beach cleaner A is lifted by the waste recovery station C as necessary in the waste recovery area E.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.